Adventures of the Wanna-be Knights
by llmockingbirdll
Summary: The gang is at the knight school, The Battlement. They think they know each other all the way, through and through. But everyone has secrets, will theirs tear them apart, or make them the best knights the kingdom has ever seen? Medieval AU
1. Another Fight

**Another Fight**

"What are you going to do, Sir Hunk?" I scoffed, knowing he can't get a good blow on me; we've been training together for knighthood since we were kids.

But, as always, Hunk smirked. I prepared for the usual left feint to an overhead swing. It doesn't come. Instead, he went straight for a swing to the stomach. I groaned at my mistake. I had relied on him to fall into the usual, but he had been plotting to switch it up on me while my stomach was unprotected.

"Oof." I fell to the ground, Hunk doesn't look it, but he is basically just muscle.

"You were saying, Sir McClain?" To this, I groaned again, which made him laugh.

"It's not bloody funny, Hunk-a-dunk." His face reddened at the nickname Lucy Pepper - my little sister - had given him.

Instead of blowing right away, as I would do, he bent down, picked me off the ground, which is no easy feat, and hung me over the castle walls.

"Ack! What are you doing Hunk? I'm sorry, yeh hear me? Now put me down, you oaf!"

Then I felt a deep rumble, Hunk started laughing his head off, with me still hanging off the walls. His laughter bounced me around and my fear of falling greatly increased.

"I get it! You like the word oaf, now get me down!" I screamed. Mostly because his laugh was so loud.

"Jeez, so grumpy." He said as he brought me back over the walls, letting me fall onto the hard stone floor.

I lied there for a minute. Then sighed, "I love the solid ground. We should stop worshiping weird lords with the power to destroy us all. We should all just worship the ground." I started petting and kissing the stones. "Isn't that right? Who's the best ground ever? That's right! You are!"

"Lance? You're creeping me out, how about we just go to dinner?" Hunk looked uncomfortable from the kissing of the floor. Prick. I've got to use this against him later.

"Alrighty then, the last one down has to kiss Katie!" I jumped up and sprint full out for the nearest battle tower.

"Unfair!" Hunk shouted as he sprinted after me, laughing at the competition.

* * *

 **Hey Guys! So, as I was bored in my computers class I got this idea for Voltron characters, so here it is!**

 **If you see any spelling mistakes or anything, suggestions, let me know in the reviews.**

 **If the muse continues, I should have one chapter a week on this story, let's pray! These chapters will be short, warning you, as I am probably going to get inspiration in class. Oops. :P**

 **Just to review, this is a medieval au, where all the characters are at a knight-training place, basically, called _The Battlement._ Bu-bu-buuuuum!**

 **Next chapter next week, fingers crossed!**


	2. Pidge's Crush

**Pidge's Crush**

"Lance, come on," Pidge whispered next to me., "there's a new cadet coming in, I hear the Princess herself vouched for him to join the battlement!" I raised my eyebrows. "Exactly! Now come on, we have to see who it is!"

We left the dining hall, letting Hunk stay, he almost cried at the thought of missing dinner. Earlier today, he had mindlessly corrected Cook's food so it would taste better. As it turns out, Cook was _very_ defensive about his cooking. He told Hunk the rule about the kitchen, which Pidge was sure he made up on the spot, "no cadet entry." It had left Hunk in tears, and no food for breakfast or lunch today.

Pidge and I raced down the halls, heading towards our secret hiding place, a nook in the side of the walls.

We peeked out the corner. "So, Katie… what do you think of her? She's pretty cute in my opinion." I whispered, winking with pomp.

Katie was the headmaster's daughter, and she's an interesting gal. Pidge always seemed to act weird when any of the other guys bring her up; so we tease Pidge on his crush on her endlessly.

Pidge avoids the eye contact I am obviously trying to make, blushing red. "I… I don't know her…" His sentence derailed into stutters.

I snorted at Pidge's reaction, and keep going. "Last night Hunk lost a race with me, and he had to kiss her, it was the deal… he had blushed so red, he couldn't even look at her!"

"Yeah, I bet she liked that," Pidge muttered under his breath.

"Huh, what was that?" I asked, but quickly get distracted by another question popping into my head. "Say, where were you last night? Hunk and I were at dinner, and after the Katie fiasco, we tried to find you, but you were nowhere to be found." I wiggled my eyebrows grinning.

He glared back at me. "I was studying, for the test on battle tactics, we had today. You know, the one you weren't prepared for?" Pidge smirked. Ha! He thinks he has the last word, not today, Gunderson!

"For your information, I did splendidly on the test, I just groaned like it was the end of the world for jokes; ya know, making the professor think I don't know anything so he's surprised when I do perfectly." At this Pidges started snorting and choking, trying his best to hide his laughter, as we are hiding out in the hallway in front of the entrance to the Battlement, after hours too.

"Just for shit and giggles, ay? In that case, I want to see your test when you get it back." He smirked again.

I went to disagree, with all the pomp and swagger I could manage, to clarify, but as my mouth opened, the creak of Battlement's front door opening and swinging into its stopper with a deafening thump.


	3. The New Cadet

**The New Cadet**

The mutter of a person echoed throughout the hall, unintelligible. I risked a peek around the corner to see who it was.

My eyes were blessed with the sight that met me.

There were two men – one shorter, one taller. The taller of which was Sir Coran, the princesses personal guard and the recruiter for The Battlement. The other… oh my god.

Rather than having a lanky, tall form, he had a shorter, leaner build. He stood short, so much as I was sure that if I held him, my chin would rest on his forehead. He had a pale skin, not unlike most of the cadets in the school, his eyes were grey, with a black mullet, and a slim, pointed face. He had on a red tabard, I don't recognize the insignia on it, but dang, it looked good on him. My eyes would've popped right out if Pidge hadn't pulled me back into the corner, just as the new cadet turned his head to look straight where I had been peeking out just a few seconds ago.

"What are you doing," hissed Pidge, "You're going to get us caught, and guess what, I don't want to have to clean the latrines again just because you like poking your head somewhere it's not supposed to be." He slapped me on the face, in a quiet, hard way only Pidge could do.

I glared at him but didn't reply, I learned from past experience that my whispering skills need some serious work. Pidge glared right back but remained silent, and we listened to the people talking yards away.

The heavy breathing of Superintendent Varkon, or, The-Dude-Who-Likes-to-Make-Our-Lives-Miserable, as most of the boys in my dorm called him when they whined about something, could be heard and the unsteady clanging of his armor as he walked towards the two-other people was deafening, it was a wonder most people could sleep through him greeting the new cadets that trickled in every month or so.

Sir Varkon had happened to be knight during the gruesome war Altea had been in with its neighboring country, Daibazaal, and often explained, in great detail, the battles he had fought, somehow the story always ended with his sword piercing through one of Daibazaal's knights and he getting heartily drunk. For some reason, the only thing I believed of that was the 'getting drunk', the man had a heavy addiction for the flavorful wines produced by the wineries in Arus, one of Alteas first allies in the dark days. Although I had to agree with him on one thing, the wines made there were the best around.

"Hullo, Coran! How are you today?" The fat knight exclaimed, while he probably hated the fact he had to come out of his quarters so late in the evening, he always put a jolly attitude up around newbies. At least, while Coran was around.

"Amazing, never have I felt spritelier than in the evening after drinking a refreshing cup of water," Coran replied in his joyful way. I remembered when I was first brought here, my nerves were up the wall, all I wanted in life was to be a knight, and this was my one chance. I had been so nervous, I'm sure they would've mistaken me for a whimpering duchess or something of the sort. But Coran's easy laugh on the ride here had taken me off the edge and now any time he comes to The Battlement we strike up a conversation for the meal or two the recruiter had before he would leave. Where he went, I still don't know, even after knowing him personally for the past four years.

The new cadet still stood quiet and stiff, as if he didn't want to be there. I almost snorted, _who doesn't want to be here?_ The boy looked uncomfortable being around the two men who were exchanging pleasantries. He seemed to blend into the black shadows in the Great Hall, the torches placed around don't light up all the corners.

"This is the new cadet," Coran introduced, "Keith Kogane." Varkon's eyes widened at the name as if it had more meaning than just a name.

"Kogane, as in…" Varkon ended his question when Coran gave him a curt nod and an almost invisible glare.

"Alrighty, my boy," Sir Varkon addressed the raven-haired cadet. "I will show you to your room.

"Come along now." He growled when Keith looked reluctant to leave Sir Coran. "I don't bite." Although the overweight man probably added the final comment to be humorous and calm the short boy, it even put me on edge, and I wasn't involved. The man definitely needed to work on his tone of voice if he ever wanted to comfort anyone.

When Coran started walking in the direction of the rooms he stayed in while he visited, Varkon figuratively carted the boy down the hall to where his room would be.

Pidge whistled low. "What do you think Kogane means?" He asked. "I've never heard the name before, but V-man acted as if the name was an old heroes name or something." He continued to mutter to himself, I paid no attention.

 _What boy could be that beautiful? Wait. Why am I thinking a_ _ **boy**_ _is beautiful?_

I left my personal dilemma at that. Because then I remembered something that might relate to the rest of our night. "Pidge," I started, "what room is this Kogane staying in?"

Pidge's eyes went wide at the sudden realization. "Oh, Varkon!" We often used Varkon's name as an insult and an exclamation, and usually, it brings peals of laughter from everyone in our group. Today it wasn't funny.

"We need to get to our room… now!" Pidge and I sprinted down the hall, a different one then Varkon and Keith went down, like our lives depended on it, which they might as well had.

 _Why do I always end up running?_ Was my final thought as we skidded around a turn.

* * *

 **I know! I'm absolutely terrible, I promised once a week, and, two weeks in, I skip a week! I am extremely sorry, last week I was caught up in finishing the first technical chapter for one of my other fics, When the Forest Calls, and I didn't start this chapter in class as was planned! Again, I am so sorry, please don't lose hope in me yet! Here is the third chapter ( _third! :-)_ ), I tried to make it longer than the others to attempt to make up for last week.**

 **Please visit the review box, as it gets lonely sometimes, and if you see any mistakes please let me know! I desperately need improvement (so maybe my Comp teacher doesn't kill me).**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter, see you next week (if I don't, feel free to spam my PM, I probably need a severe talking to if that happens).**

 **I love all of you little birdies, don't forget it! I will feed your hungry little mouths as much as possible.**

 **P.S. keep in mind other chapters will more than likely _not_ be this long, unless I am trying to make it up to y'all, or what I want to be in the chapter extends to 1k words.**

 **Sorry again,**

 **Mockingbird**


	4. Getting Caught

**Hello guys! As promised, here is the next chapter! I wasn't going to actually include this one, and skip straight to the next chapter, but it offered some insight that I wouldn't have to cover later on, soooo, enjoy!**

* * *

 **Getting Caught**

We raced back to the room like we were being chased by the warriors of the dead. We _needed_ to get back before Superintendent Varkon got there, we had completely forgotten about the teeny-tiny detail of where the new cadet – Kogane – would be staying. It makes sense since Shiro had graduated with honors and become a knight and we were down a person in our dorm for eight.

There are many dorms in The Battlement for the cadets that stayed there, and we shared them eight a dorm. Most of the time you don't start at the same time as the other guys in your dorm. Hunk and I started at the same time, and had known each other before this and had already been friends. We met Pidge here, who seemed to have been here forever. It was kind of weird, as Pidge was super young compared to us, like, two years younger, but the school does accept children as young as five. Whenever we ask Pidge when he came here, he always gets squeamish and gives a vague answer, but we don't usually press for more information

It was common knowledge many people died in the war, and a lot of the kids around the school didn't get visits from their parents, because there are no parents to come. Hunk was, technically, one of those kids, but he lived with us after my parents realized he slept in a broken dish at night. He was basically adopted by my family and was immediately accepted by us McLain children. All of us to, and there were twelve of us! You had to have been a really cool person for us all to like you, and we made sure Hunk knew that whenever he felt down. So, even though he doesn't have biological parents coming, he had the next best thing.

We squealed around a corner. Just a few more hallways until we get there. At this pace, we _should_ get there in time. But just in case, I made a mental note to my god, that if we got there, I would have made sure to have been nicer to Arrian, even though the dude was a pain in the butt and had a horrible personality to boot.

We were in the last hall when we heard the "Hem, hem," that could only belong to one person. We turned around guiltily to face none other than Hagar Zarkon. She is the librarian of the school, but somehow, always finds a way to catch the students sneaking around after lights out. While Sir Varkon, they in no way are related, despite the similar names, was annoying and a pompous pig looking for a way out of the place, Madam Hagar was so much worse.

She loved to make you uncomfortable, and she was always around, seemingly in different places at once. She wasn't the strictest person here, but she most definitely was the cruelest. I had always laughed at other students, trembling around her, remembering how she had caught them doing whatever it was they were doing. But at this moment, looking down at her pointed, maybe an evil face, I got where they're fear comes from.

"Out of bed at this hour," she tutted, "I am obligated to bring you to your rooms, as well as… hmm… maybe a note to your parents…" She smirked at the considerable paling of my face, my father was a rational, honest man, and that just adds to the "don't want to disappoint him" ordeal. "But for now, let's go to your rooms." Even Pidge looked frightened of the woman. Pidge didn't scare easily.

Hagar walked in front of us leading the way, knowing that we wouldn't be stupid enough to try and sneak away from her, we already got caught, what's the point of running away? Her long, white hair hung in the loose way it always does, the ends of it reached below her hip, but above her knees. She wore a dark-blue smock that was almost purple, but not quite, like the one you'd wear outside, but, since the school gets so cold at night, I wouldn't judge her, if she didn't wear it all the time. She was most definitely shorter than me, but most people are. But Pidge, being the small little potato he claims he isn't, is at least half a foot shorter than the intimidating woman.

Madam Hagar turned to smirk again, she clearly thought she had won. Any other person, in any other situation, I would've disagreed and done my best – worst – to make sure it ended in my favor. But it wasn't, and she had most definitely just won. She knocked on the door of our room. Just as Hagar had won, Varkon was in the room, no doubt about it. "I'll go first." She opened the door and marched in, a triumphant sneer on her face.

* * *

 **Alrighty, so I reply to every review I get, but I recently got one from a guest reviewer, so I think in these cases I'll just reply here, at the bottom of chapters... or something like that.**

 **Well, anyway, shout out and special thanks to** _ **Fir3danc3r**_ **. No, they definitely don't know, but I think the last chapter (or was it the one before... oh well) covered that question :). I love, love, love that you find this story interesting, and I hope you've enjoyed these last two chapters. So sorry I didn't reply before, but, thank you so much for the lovely review!**

 **To everyone, I hope you pretty birdies have an amazing Thanks Giving, and if that's not your cup of tea (or Joe) an awesome weekend.**

 **Until next week, I bid you adieu, adios, goodbye, 再見, a** **uf wiedersehen, وداعا, vale, faida, addio, and** **Прощай.**

 **Sorry if anything is misspelled, I am still learning.**


	5. Introductions

**Introductions**

Superintendent Varkon turned around, looking surprised by the sudden intrusion. Hunk looked worriedly at us, I felt guilty, we hadn't told him where we were going, we had just said we wanted to see something. And when we didn't get back to our room at lights-out, he probably had been worried sick. His face lets me know right now that's how he's extremely worried.

"Sir Varkon," Madam Hagar started in her gravelly voice, "I found these two out in the hallways, running after lights-out. So, I thought it fit to bring them back to their room." She bowed at the fat superintendent and backed towards the wall, she likes to blend in with the background. Sometimes she does it so well, nobody knows she is there until she busts them for some ridiculous, far-fetched reason.

Arrian Dell, the same person I _almost_ promised to be nice too, smirked at our misfortune. He, unfortunately, is one of our roommates, and definitely, the least liked. He swept his red hair out of his face, looking like Christmas came early.

"Yes, thank you Madam Hagar, you may take your leave." The superintendent dismissed her. Hagar looked like she would rather stay, to see what our punishment was, no doubt. But she didn't make a fuss, she turned, swishing her elegant white-lavender hair, whipping poor Pidge in the face, and left with the regal air that was always around her.

By now, all the boys in our dorm had all made an appearance. Varkon had probably just gotten there when we arrived. They stood in a sharp line at attention, which is how we are supposed to be when the superintendent visits our room. There are two gaps in the line, Pidge's and my places.

"Well?" Sir Varkon gestured for us to get into our line. We scrambled to get around the "bloated" man and get into our spots.

When we were in the line he started introductions. "Cadets, as you know, Sir Shirogane Takashi has graduated and is now a knight for the kingdom. You have all been down a person in your dorm, so, naturally, the new cadet is going to live with you." He stepped back to show the cadet. "This is Keith Kogane, your newest roommate." Kogane looked like he definitely didn't want to be in the center of attention, and seemed to try to fade into the shadows, the same as how Hagar likes to do. "INTRODUCTIONS!"

Varkon shouts his commands, and when I first got here, I had nearly hit my head on the roof, I jumped so high. The new cadet didn't seem surprised by the sudden shout, the only indication that he heard was a subtle flinch.

"Dell, Jason." The first cadet in the line stepped forward, introduced himself, and then stepped back into the line.

"Owens, Peirce."

"McClain, Blaise." My older brother introduced himself.

"Garrett, Tsuyoshi," Hunk stepped forward. "You can call me Hunk." He smiled sheepishly as he stepped back.

"McClain, Lance," I said with as much flair as possible and bowed.

"Dell, Arrian." My rival stepped forward and smirked at the new recruit. The scheming snake was probably sizing him up.

"Last, but not least, Gunderson, Pidgeon, or Pidge." Since he was always last in introductions, Pidge added something each time. With Hunk and I, he had stuck out his front teeth to look like a mouse.

The superintendent turned to Keith Kogane. "These are your new roommates. You will eat with them, train with them, and live with them. During your time here, the Hounds will be your group. Every year there is a competition against all the different groups here at The Battlement; luckily for you, you got here just in time for the beginning of the games, may serve your team well." The fat man walked to the door, "I shall leave you all to get acquainted. Remember, training starts at the break of dawn!" With that, the door slammed shut.

* * *

 **An entire month! Aaaah! It took way longer than expected to get this chapter out and I apologize. Midterms kicked my butt, but those are over now *sighs.* I started on the chapter, and I realized I didn't have eight people for the dorm! So there are some OC characters, that I can't wait for you guys to meet in detail!**

 **Reviews:**

 **Fir3danc3r: I hope it's still okay and I apologize for the extremely long wait. I hope you enjoyed the new chapter!**

 **Dawn Sketchers: Thank you for the lovely review! I hope the story stays interesting, but we shall see!**

* * *

 **See you lovely birdies next week (hopefully)!**

 **Mockingbird**


	6. Goodnights

**HAPPY NEW YEAR! It's been a while, I haven't updated since last year! Imagine that. This account is now officially one year old! Ahhhh, time went by so quickly, and slowly, I don't know, it was time. Time was being time.**

 **Enough rambling!**

* * *

 **Goodnights**

As soon as Superintendent Varkon left, Kogane turned around and walked briskly to the one open bed in the room, which, conveniently for him, was in the back corner of the dorm.

We all shared a look of confusion. Peirce was the first to shrug and copy him. After that everyone trickled into bed. It was weird, the way the new cadet had acted, when Peirce himself had joined he had tried to make small talk with us for almost half an hour and then gave up because it had been extremely awkward.

I crawled into bed, weird or not, the new cadet could warm up to us later; he'd have to, we're basically family here, and he can't ignore us forever. The games start tomorrow, and the stakes are always high.

The way The Battlement works was… strange. You could join when you're five or anytime after, but when you turned twenty-five you got kicked out. Knight or not, you're out. To become a knight your team must place in the top four teams overall. There were age restrictions, such as: "If you are under fourteen you cannot be in the trials." Pidge just squeaked in at fifteen. The games consisted of many, well, games. There were different challenges each year, but each played on a different strength.

These were all done together as a team, to see how well you do in a group. After each game the judges, who also varied each year, gave every team points depending on how well they did, a perfect score was zero. The most points your team could have before they're disqualified from the games was fifteen, any more then you're out.

The trials were the separate testing down on each person of the four teams that win, this was every man for himself. All the underage kids were immediately dropped, but they received a bag of gold for making it. The remaining cadets were put into a series of seemingly impossible challenges to determine whether or not they had the stomach, strength, and smarts to be a knight.

If they qualified, they move on to The Final Round. Nobody actually knew what The Final Round consisted of, it didn't include anything in weaponry or battle-planning, those were all done in the first round of trials. The cadets that went through didn't tell what was in The Final Round, they just smirked or smiled, not telling.

If a cadet made it through The Final Round, they would be a knight! There was feasting in the Great Hall and each boy was knighted by the king, King Alfor. Then, a student tradition from the first years of The Battlement, they got to chisel their name into the iron wall. Their name would forever be etched with all the other names of the people that were knighted in times of the past.

I had made it to the trials last year, the year Shiro was knighted, but I hadn't been able to pass one of the tests, so I was given my bag of gold, which was sent back home to my family, and then put in another year at The Battlement. Not that that was a bad thing, I don't think I had been ready to be a full-on knight yet, out in the world fight who knows what, who knows where. But now, I had my chance at redemption, and it would be glorious!

"Lights out!" Jason announced. Nobody said anything against it, so he turned out the lights. "Good night, everyone."

"Sleep tight." Hunk always said this before we went to sleep, he had even done it at home when he lived with me.

"Don't let the bed bugs bite." Mumbled a half-asleep Blaise, my older brother could fall asleep as soon as his head hit his pillow.

"… Too hard." This was always Peirce's addition to the goodnights.

"There's something underneath your bed." For some reason, Arrian felt like this was a nice thing to say when going to sleep.

Pidge cackled softly while Arrian said his piece.

"Goodnight." A new voice added with finality. It was Kogane! He put something into the goodnights; he might not stick out like a sore thumb anyway.

"Yes yes, sleep sleep time," I agreed, smirking because he probably didn't want anyone to say anything more. I usually said something different, albeit along the same lines, but that was when Shiro was here, this change might not be so bad. Maybe I had a problem, I did like to annoy people, and do the opposite of what they wanted me to do. That was probably why I didn't pass to The Final Round last year, I didn't listen very well.

With thoughts of becoming a knight, I drifted off to sleep, readying myself for the vigilant training that would take place the next day, dreaming about a shadowed figure and a brick and mortar wall blocking their path.

* * *

 **This one was more informational, action should be coming soon!**

 **To surviving another year,**

 **Mockingbird**

 **Fir3danc3r: Thank you again for the lovely review, I hope this chapter was okay, it was a little late... And I actually haven't completely planned out how they're going to find out about Pidgeon, so we'll see! ;)**

 **P.S.** **Over the break I put out a Laith (Klance to most of you) one-shot, if you like the ship, please go check it out! It's One Night at the Bar, by llmockingbirdll (me.)**

 **URL: s/12775342/1/One-Night-at-the-Bar**


	7. Punishment

***Tosses out the window***

 **Read well birdies!**

* * *

 **Punishment**

The morning went well; we didn't have the hard field training until this afternoon. But it all went downhill at lunch. Haggar found us out at the eating hall and was clearly angry about something. "Young men!" She screeched.

We immediately leaped out of our seats and got into our line. "Yes, Madam Haggar?" Jason asked, ever the polite one.

"It has come to my attention that you all have not been punished, that Sir Varkon just left you all to go to bed after I made my exit. Is this true?"

"Yes, Madam Haggar." Hunk said quietly.

"Hmm? What was that boy, speak up!" She yelled at him.

"He said yes, Madam Haggar." Blaise stepped in for the mumbling Hunk. Hunk got scared easily and all of my siblings and I were extremely protective of him; and everyone else in our family. You mess with one McClain, you mess with them all.

The regal lady turned slowly to Blaise. "Was I asking you, Cadet McClain Number One?" She had given us numbers because everyone in The Battlement is supposed to address people by their proper position.

"No, ma'am." He looked sheepish. "I was just…"

"No buts!" She looked creepily happy about whatever was going through her mind, probably a punishment of some sort. "For your rude interruption of me questioning a student, and the mumbling of said student, _and_ the sneaking around after hours done by students," she glared at Pidge and I respectively, "your entire group shall be cleaning the eating hall after feast this evening!" At our faces, she laughed, "besides, it'll be a great way to get to know each other better. You do have a new cadet in your group after all."

By now some of the kids around us had been listening in and they all snickered at our punishment.

The bitter woman glared around the room. "Would anybody like to join them?" The room went silent; I could've heard a pin drop. That is if somebody had dropped a pin. "No? Well, then I suggest you all keep your noses out of other people's business!" She then whipped around, letting her long hair hit Pidge in the face, again, and marched out.

As soon as the door behind her closed shut, the riot began.

Students climbed up onto the tables and started dancing on peoples' plates, kids just threw their food around, and some, very, very few, just sat and eat their food as peacefully as they could with the hullabaloo going around.

The Hounds all sat back down at our table and ignored the flying food. After all our training today, after our dinner, we'd have to clean up this mess.

"Well," started Arrian, "we'll definitely get to know how quickly we can each get pissed off." His lip curled in distaste when his sight glazed over Pidge, Hunk, and I. I glared back at him, sticking my tongue out. _Man! How much I hate that guy!_

* * *

 **School has started up again. This means that updating will be harder, so the once-a-week schedule I had going my not stick. I will be updating once a month, so don't worry my birdies!**

 **Okay, so I know these are a load of excuses, but I hide behind them!**

 **Fir3danc3r: I hope this one was as enjoyable, it is shorter than previous ones. :) Hopefully, the next one will come out soon!**

 **I will throw some more out the window soon!**

 **Mockingbird**

 **P.S. Over break I wrote a Klance one-shot, One Night At a Bar - if you're a fan of the ship go check it out!**

 **URL: s/12775342/1/One-Night-at-the-Bar**


	8. Field Training

***sneaks in***

 ***hands over chapter sheepishly***

 ***attempts to cover the date***

* * *

 **Field Training!**

"Alrighty, Hounds!" Jason announced. "As you know, the games start tonight, and last year we made it in, and even had one of our cadets knighted, Sir Shirogane. Unfortunately," he continued, "he was the _only_ cadet to be knighted – while Snaff had _six_ cadets knighted. They were the largest group too in the entire Battlement." He paused. "That is completely unacceptable."

Another thing that separated The Battlement from other schools is the fact that in training, each group didn't have a trainer. It was up to the group themselves to get themselves into shape. The oldest person in the group tends to take the lead and make all the work-outs. But, experience trumps age, so every now and then the youngest could be the leader.

For the Hounds, Jason Dell is the oldest and the most experienced.

And unfortunately for the Hounds, Jason Dell was also the one who believed pain and pressure would lead to bigger results.

It wasn't that I didn't think pushing yourself more _didn't_ have greater results, it was that I hated drills. Well, the repeating of drills. Over and over and over, couldn't we have something different to do?

The answer to that was, apparently, no; as Jason had us do many, _many_ drills over the course of an hour.

"Alrighty boys, it seems that our drills still need some work," his eyes glanced at the entire group but lingered on Hunk and Pierce a few seconds longer, "but, congratulations! Our warm-up is now done!"

A collective groan was uttered from all of the cadets, myself included. Although, I didn't hear Kogane emit any noise at all. If he had, I would have noticed, since I was standing next to him.

"Since I love all of you so, so, _so_ much, the run today will only be _five_ loops of the castle instead of the _eight_ I had planned." Kogane began to run, but everyone else stayed standing. "…well, what are you all waiting for? Start running! Go, go, go!" He pushed us onto the well-trodden running path that circles the Battlement.

I ran faster to catch up with our newest member… not because I wanted to see his leg muscles contract and expand as he ran… no, if I wanted to see that I would stay behind him while running. I shook my head, thinking about his muscles—regardless of how nice they look—would get me nowhere.

His black hair _did_ look really soft as it waived in the wind. So soft I just wanted to run my fingers through it, caressing his head as I did. I wanted to hear his breath hitch as my finely-filed nails scraped against his skull. I wanted him to look at me with lust in his eyes as he leaned in for a—WHERE ARE THESE THOUGHTS COMING FROM?

* * *

 **Oof. That was a long break...**

 **Special thanks to Fir3danc3r for reviewing and all those that favorited while I was gone! Sorry it took so long to get this one out!**


	9. What Is This?

**What Is This?**

 _WHERE ARE THESE THOUGHTS COMING FROM?_

When I had first seen him, one of my first thoughts had been that he was short enough to fit under my chin if I hugged him; and now, I want him to snog me? Braid his hair? Hear him laugh at a joke I made? _What the literal heck is this?_

I've never been into a dude before; in fact, despite my bragging of… certain stuff, I've never really been into anyone. So why do I want this one guy, _who I haven't even had a proper conversation with_ , to straddle me and kiss me like I were the only person in the world?

My father – a nice, religious man – had spoken about men who liked other men. I had just turned nine and was starting to pack for the Battlement—the school had finally accepted me. He had taken me to the side and had said:

" _Lance, before you go off to that fancy training school of yers, I need to tell ye a truth in life._ "

" _Okay, Papa. What is it?_ "

" _When a man has sex with another man, it is a sin. I don't know what that loosie-goosy school is gonna try and teach ya, but know this from yer Papa: if you ever,_ _ **ever**_ _sleep with a boy, god'll punish you like he'll punish all the gays. So, if a boy – or man – ever tries to do anythin' with ya, knee him right where it matters. Okay, boy?_ "

" _Yes, Papa._ "

I snapped my head out of the memory. There was no use in soul searching and " _purging my mind of the sinful thoughts and desires_ ", in the words of my father.

I looked ahead and noticed that I was getting closer to Kogane, like how I had planned to be. But, there was no way I was going to talk with him right now. Not while my brain was dealing with the whiplash of thoughts whizzing through.

No, that would be asking for trouble.

I slowed my stride to match Blaise's, even though he ran a little slower than I. Although he was nineteen, – two years older than me – he was _quite a bit_ shorter. Almost a foot to be exact—not that I ever held that fact over him or anything.

He was stockier, though; and had more muscles… and more luck with picking up girls. However, I didn't really want to be luckier with girls right then, just with Keith Kogane.

I rolled my eyes at myself, it was like my brain was stuck in a loop. I needed to break out of it.

"So, Blaise, have you gotten any letters from Ma or Papa recently?" it was the only thing that was going to come out of my brain _slightly_ cohesive besides thoughts – and worries about those thoughts – of Kogane.

Kogane, whose black hair was pulled back into a tiny little ponytail that was bobbing along as he ran the loop. Kogane, whose shirt wasn't tucked in well enough and was slipping out of his pants and showing off his beautifully pale-skinned hips. Hips that just deserved attention. Kogane, who I nEEDED TO GET OUT OF MY MIND!

"Not really, Charlie. But, your birthday is in a couple weeks, I'm pretty sure, so we'll probably get something from everyone in about three weeks." Blaise replied, keeping his eyes on the ground. Most likely worried he was going to trip on a root again.

Our family was humongous. Overall there were 35 people that we consider in our family, and our brother Samuel and his wife Wendy were expecting their third kid in a month, making our family 36 McClains strong.

With so many birthdays in the family, we rounded to the middle of the month for celebrating. Since I was born in November, I shared my birthday celebration with: my oldest sister, Della Brown; one of my little sisters, Lara Jean; three of my nephews – the triplets, Jared, Jensen, and Jeremy Hartfield; and Della Brown's oldest daughter, my niece, Bethany Farmer.

"Oh, okay."

Blaise looked at me with his eyebrow raised. "Are you feeling under the weather? You don't look like you're okay and you're asking about Ma, what's this about?"

I easily crafted up a lie, "I just miss everyone. We haven't seen them since summer break, which was four months ago."

"Well, we'll see them for Christmas _and_ get to celebrate Abuelita's sixty-eighth birthday."

I smiled. I had forgotten about our week-long return for winter-break. It would be good to get away from the Battlement for a little while.

"Blaise, Lance! Hurry up your paces! You're falling behind too far from the group," Jason yelled. "As punishment, everyone will be doing one-hundred extra push-ups."

He jogged up to us and elbowed me in the arm. "Thanks, guys," he said, winking, "I wanted to make you all do push-ups today, now I have a scape-goat."

* * *

 **Lance, your gay's showing through. :)**

 **I was planning, originally, to go for a subtler approach with 'le Laith relationship build up; but, irl I'm not known for my subtility, so – I figure – why try to do so here?**

 **Fir3danc3r: You brought tears to my eyes with your review... I'm so sorry for being gone for so long... and thank you so, so, so much for sticking around.**

 **To all the new(er) people who have favorited/followed, hello! My name is Mockingbird, and welcome to the wild ride of 'when will she update?"**

 **Lol, see y'all next chapter!**  
 **Mockingbird**

 **PS: in this fic, I have Lance's full name as 'Charles Lance McClain'. That's why Blaise calls him 'Charlie', as will the rest of his family when Blaise and Lance visit them for Christmas (where some drama might ensue... spoilers *gasp*).**

 **PPS: I'm making a family tree that I'll probably show at the beginning of the next chapter so y'all can see the beautiful family I've put together as the McClains and I'll reshow it as needed or asked.**


	10. Scape Goat

**Scape Goat**

The rest of the team groaned after hearing the next exercise they would be do doing.

"Great going, McClains," Pierce growled.

"Gee thanks," Arrian said sarcastically. I glared at him. My feelings might be everywhere and my head might be really confused, but my hate for him was still there. This realization left me feeling a bit relieved, _maybe my head wasn't screwed up?_

But, if my head wasn't going crazy, that means these feelings weren't crazy… right? Which means I was attracted to Kogane and it wasn't crazy. My father was going to kill me if he found out.

"Really, Lance, first you stay out late and get us in trouble with Madam Haggar, and then you pull this?" Pidge tutted jokingly. "I think you just want us to be mad at you." He winked at me, smirking.

Hunk knocked Pidge in the shoulder. "C'mon, leave off him, you were out with him last night."

"I know Hunk; I was there, after all," Pidge replied, his high voice laced with sarcasm.

Hunk looked sheepish.

"Alright guys, leave Hunk and Lance alone. We're doing one-hundred push-ups, whether y'all like it or not."

"But Jason! The games begin tonight, I don't think we should have extremely sore arms for it." Arrian complained, probably hoping that his brother would cut him some slack.

However, as if you needed another reason to look up to him, one thing about Jason that you could admire was how he treated _everyone_ equally. Never with contempt or with favor. But, it still seemed like Arrian hadn't figured out that fact.

"Exactly, Arrian. _You_ think, not _I_ think. And _I_ think that we need to do one-hundred push-ups, regardless of the games beginning tonight. Understood, brother?"

"Yes, Jason," Arrian said with a respectful voice. But, I could tell from his eyes that he was definitely not happy with the exercise planned.

The rest of field training was pure torture. I would've thought that since we were going to compete in the games, we would have taken it easy. But, clearly, that was not what Jason thought.

After what seemed like days ended, Jason cut us off and I flopped onto the ground from the plank that I had been holding for the past ten minutes. We were in one of the multiple fields that surrounded the Battlement school. This particular one was a winter crop, so it had nice, soft, green grass but no crops.

The Battlement, because of the placement of the school in Altea—the country we lived in, —had its summers between the months of October through January, December being the hottest, and its winters between the months of May through July. The seasons worked in the opposite way at Blaise's and my home.

"Great job, boys! I think we're ready for the games tonight!" Jason said with a smile on his pretty face. The pretty face that Pidge, who was sitting next to me, looked like he wanted to mess up.

"Ready? Do my flopping arms look like they're ready for a competition that may or may not end with me getting knighted?" He waved his arms around to prove his point.

Both Hunk and Jason laughed at the antic.

"One-hundred percent ready," Jason smiled, "you could probably go on out to battle and slay thousands right now."

"Slay thousands my butt," Pidge muttered under his breath. "More like die in the first five minutes."

"Now, don't say that Pidge," Blaise said in a worried, you-should-love-yourself tone. His mouth spread into a full-teethed smile that had won him many girls. "You would die in the first five seconds."

All I could see was a blur as Pidge jumped on Blaise—who had been sitting on the ground but was now on his back laying in the grass. The two wrestled for a minute, it was clear that Blaise was going extremely easy as he was three times larger than Pidge. It ended when Pidge pinned Blaise by sitting on his torso and was proudly crowing the fact with his body language.

"You say that like you would last longer than me," Pidge said with a joking sneer.

Blaise used his bulk – all muscle – to flip the pin around onto the smaller guy. Now Pidge was on the floor, pinned by Blaise's body. "I will always last longer than you, Pidge." He winked at the fifteen-year-old.

An almost miss-able tinge of pink flushed across Pidge's cheeks. "Get off me, you big lump." He wiggled, trying to dislodge my older brother.

Blaise laughed in his full, rich tone. "Yes, sir."

Just then the wring of the Eating Bell rang across the fields surrounding the Battlement.

"Dinner!" Hunk cried out joyfully. He had been complaining of a hungry stomach for the past… long while. Time had slipped away from my mind.

By the time we entered the Eating Hall, the sun had already begun to disappear on the horizon.

* * *

 **bu bu buuuhh! #gradeaforeshadowing #imstillhere**

 **Hey y'all! Here's the next chappy of this lovely story!**

 **For all newcomers (and old-comers), if you see some kind of mess up where I say one thing in one chapter, but change it in  
a different one, please let me know! I've been writing this story over the course of... a long time, I don't know... so I'm  
bound to change stuff up in my brain and forgetting something. I've been trying to change everything to go along smoothly, but  
if I miss something could Y'all let me know?** **Thank you so, so much!**

 **Happy Halloween,  
Mockingbird**


	11. The Beginning of a Long Night

***Sneaks in* *covers the date* *hopes y'all are still there despite the wait***

 **Enjoy! ;)**

* * *

 **The Beginning of a Long Night**

The Eating Hall was a mess. With the general messiness of a hundred-and-four boys eating their meal and then the added food fight at lunch and, it was disgustingly filthy and in serious need of cleaning. That's where the Hounds came in.

Madam Haggar smirked at us. She had shown up at the end of feast to remind us that we were to clean the hall. "Well cadets, you have until day-break tomorrow to finish cleaning." Any hope that had still been in Hunk's eyes left at that moment. We were in for a fun night. "If I see even the tiniest spot on anything, you will clean the hall again tomorrow night. Am I understood?"

We all mumbled in agreement.

"I said, DO YOU UNDERSTAND?"

"Yes, ma'am." We all replied in unison.

"Then get to it, cadets."

"Yes, ma'am," Pierce was the only one to answer this time.

Before she could leave, Hunk raised his hand hesitantly. "Yes, Cadet Garret?" She said with a sniff.

"The games begin tonight, Madam Haggar. Do you mean to make us miss them?"

She smirked like the cat who got the cream. "Why, I would never do such a thing, sabotage an entire group… such a terrible thing to do." She whipped around her hair and began to stalk off, saying over her shoulder, "I'll be back when your time is up, you will either be in bed or in for another long night." Then she was gone.

"Well boys," Jason said, "we've got to get to scrubbing, then. The games begin at midnight, so if we work hard enough, we should finish _just_ in time."

Scrub we did.

We scrubbed until our backs and joints protested movement—which had already been sore from our previous work-out—and then some. There was no stopping us, we needed to get to the games, just not showing up would start us off with five points out of the fifteen that would get us ejected from the games and trials altogether.

I paused for a second to stretch out my back and took a look around the room. We were spread out across the room, Keith was the closest to me. His back was facing away and he was viciously scraping at the floor, trying to get an… unnamed gooey substance off the floor. It didn't seem to be budging.

"So, Keith… why'd you decide to join the Battlement? If you're any age near our ages, you probably only have five more years here anyway." I asked strategically, maybe he'd say how old he was?

 _Please be under twenty, please be under twenty!_

Without turning to look at me, he answered, "I have eight years to get to knighthood. I'm seventeen." He paused, "but, I'm confident I won't need that long to get out of here." I couldn't see, but he was smirking at my quite obvious attempt to learn his age.

 _Bingo!_

Even though I knew it wasn't possible and I wouldn't ever get to find out what his mouth tasted like, figuring out he was my age filled me with hope.

Keith continued to work at what could be… _potatoes and gravy?_ with vigour. He probably thought I was done questioning him.

 _Why am I so interested in him, anyway?_

I shook my head, that was a great question for when I had time to soul search the inner-depths of my brain, and who had time for that? "Why'd you come?"

"Because a friend of mine thought I should and sent in my application without letting me know. By the time I found out, she had kissed me on the cheek and pushed me into the coach and here I am."

 _She?_

Pidge had listened in, apparently, because he immediately jumped into our conversation, "and would this 'she' be the princess?" He smirked slyly and shot a look to Pierce.

They're probably teaming up to figuring out something again. Pierce was a decent guy and I didn't mind him, but sometimes he needed some help to pull the stick up his ass out—either Arrian or I told him so every time it was necessary. He and Pidge teamed up every now and then when they both really wanted to find something out, like ' _why the green beans have a suspiciously apple-y flavour to them_ '. This time it's probably if Keith knew Princess Allura.

Keith winked back at Pidge with a half-smile on his beautiful face.

Blaise and Hunk, who had both stopped working to listen in, began to laugh deeply.

"Pidge!" Jason scolded light-heartedly, "leave Keith out of your crazy conspiracy theories!" He turned to Keith, "and you! you should know better than to encourage Pidge and Pierce."

Pierce, who had been laughing at Pidge getting yelled at, quieted.

Keith laughed, "I can hold them back, don't worry."

Pidge rolled his eyes and looked back at his cleaning.

Somehow, despite our conversations, we managed to finish just before the moon was at its peak.

"We're finished, everything is clean," Arrian stated, throwing the once-full water pail to the ground with a clang.

"Oh, thank goodness," I closed my eyes and arched my back, loving the way it made my spine crack. I didn't notice how Keith's eyes rove up and down my body as I stretched.

"We have to go now if we want to get there in time." Keith's comment made us all notice the position of the moon.

"Shit," Pidge threw down the rag he had been using to clean one of the tables, "let's go!"

We sprinted like there was no tomorrow to the basement where the games always begin.

Out of breath, we turned the final corner of the Battlement and arrived at the door to the basement.

"We made it!" Pierce raised his fists into the sky.

"Now we just have to do good," Hunk said in his worried tone.

"Don't worry Hunk," I said, smiling, "we've got this."

Blaise opened the door.

"Let the games begin," Pidge whispered under his breath, just loud enough that I could hear it.

Keith smirked and nodded to Pidge. Apparently, he had heard as well. "Let the games begin, indeed."

* * *

 **Keith is actually speaking to Lance?** 😏

 **Hopefully, I get the next chapter out soon! If all goes to plan, you'll have a delectable feast to gobble!**

 **I haven't had breakfast yet, can you tell?**

 **Mockingbird**

 **P.S. It's almost 3 pm where I live.**

 **Fir3danc3r: Thanks so much for reviewing! I'm so glad that you** **'ve decided to stick around despite my terrible updating schedule. I hope you enjoyed this chapter, and I think you're going to love the next one. (I hope)**


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